say i was better received in the united nations than here. [laughter] . . in modern times, jews everywhere have made extraordinary competition -- contributions to humanity. so small listen greatness have accompanied our people

throughout nearly 4000 years of our history. but are conspicuous achievements often masked our small size and our vulnerability that comes from being small. been prominent but small, we often could not defend ourselves against much larger foes who ended our achievements, it despised the ideas that we champion, and periodically fought to expel or even annihilate us out right. the rebirth of his role did not eliminate such tax -- of israel did not eliminate such attacks but it fundamentally changed our ability to repel them. in 1948, some 600,000 jews, their backs against the seas,

then it off the assault of much larger enemy sworn to our destruction. we were aided by many of our fellow american jews. you gave many arms and what is more important tremendous moral support. you helped absorber waves of immigrants into israel. you helped spearhead the heroic struggle to free soviet jewry, and you have tirelessly worked to strengthen the american- israel alliance which is a cornerstone of israel's security. today you support birthright and other organizations, programs that promote jewish identity, thereby ensuring that our numbers do not fully diminish and wendell by the forces of assimilation.

strengthening a jewish identity, i believe, can no longer be an exclusive task of the diaspora. it is increasingly the a pop -- the responsibility of the jewish state. [applause] over a decade ago, i was proud to be the first prime minister to allocate state funds to bolster jewish identity outside of israel. and i assure you that in my second term, i intend to do even more. [applause] the results of our joint effort has been a strong israel. and only a strong israel cannot achieve peace. but even a strong israel is still a small israel. a small israel demands a secure peace.

peace in our land, the piece of jerusalem, our eternal capital, is one of our oldest longings. it is expressed in our songs, in our prayers -- ask for the peace of jerusalem. this is built into our entire tradition our yearnings, our hopes. peace between israel and our arab neighbors would give us one first an immediate thing -- it would spare our children the horrors of war. it would spare our grandchildren behar's of war. if you had been through the horrors of war, and i have, you understand what a great gift that is to ourselves, to our children, to our neighbor's children. and peace could also assure and a new era of tremendous economic

progress for the benefit of everyone in the middle east. i think people are beginning to see that. incomplete, beginning, a start -- and what is happening in the west bank, i will talk about that in a minute. we've already signed peace agreements, tw of them, with egypt and jordan. and we're eager to achieve peace with all our other neighbors, especially with the palestinians. i believe that there is no time to waste. we need to move toward peace with a sense of urgency and up -- and a sense of purpose. and i want to make this clear. my goal is not have in this negotiations. my goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations. my goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between israel and the palestinians and soon. [applause]

i cannot be more emphatic on that point. but to get a -- but to get to a peace agreement, we need to start negotiating the peace agreement. and it is high time that we stop negotiating about the negotiations. let's get on with them. let's move! this past june i put forth a vision of peace that has united the vast majority of israelis. in this edition of two states for two peoples, the palestinian state would recognize the jewish state. what do i mean by the jewish state? it is a state in which all individuals and all minorities had equal individual rights, yet

our national symbols, our language, our culture spring from the heritage of the jewish people. and most importantly, and if you -- any jew from anywhere in the world has the right to emigrate to israel and become a citizen. [applause] i want to make it clear, any jew of any denomination will always have a right to to come home to the jewish state. [applause] religious pluralism and tolerance will always died by policy. -- guide my policy. what is the jewish state means to the palestinians?

it means that they must recognize that the fantasy of flooding israel with refugees is gone. they gave up and exclaims and that they declare unequivocally that the conflict is finally over. [applause] yet even after we achieve this peace treaty, we have to be honest and recognize that it may take years for the spirit of peace to permeate most levels of palestinian society. and there for any peace agreement we signed today must include ironclad security measures that will protect the state of israel and stand the test of time.

[applause] here comes that paradox again. israel is powerful, but it is small. no matter where our borders are drawn, his role will remain exceedingly small. i'm sure you know it is small. i don't think you know how small it is. and certainly your neighbors do not. they think that there are 200 million jews and the world and israel is half the size of europe. it is not. the united states and canada are roughly 400 times each the size of israel. the arab world is 500 times the size of israel. egypt alone is roughly the 40

times the size of israel. and even a small country like jordan, our neighbor to the east, is almost four times as big. israel is bigger than rhode island. [laughter] that is about it. [laughter] now, mind you, small countries are not necessarily insecure. belgium and luxembourg are small, but today they are not insecure. if their neighbors included radical regimes bent on their conquest, bent on their destruction, it they fell the -- if they feel that terror proxy's that fire thousands of missiles on their population, believe me, they too would feel insecure. anybody would. because of our small size and

the radical and violent neighborhood in which we live, israel faces security threats like that of no other nation. here are two facts from recent days alone that will drive this point home. a few days ago, the israeli navy it predicted that the ship carrying hundreds of tons of explosives and rockets. a ship for iran -- from iran for hezbollah. one rocket had a range of nearly 40 miles. to a large degree, that might not be to consequential. but for a tiny country like israel, this means that both hamas and hezbollah now have the power to reach tel aviv.

israel security therefore requires that any territory vacated in the future peace agreement must be an effective lead to militarized. an effective to miller to reservation of palestinian areas is an essential component of peace recognized by successive american presidents. and i want to assure you that we are willing to make great concessions for peace. but there is something that i will never compromise on, and that is israel's security. [applause] we have to ensure that weapons do not flow into the palestinian areas in the west bank, which overlooks to lead the and surrounding jerusalem. we cannot permit another gaza or south lebanon and the heart of our country.

what we want is a durable peace , a peace that will hold, a piece that we can defend. i fervently hope that such a peace will be established. i am prepared to work for it. i pray that it will hold. but we must be prepared to defend ourselves in case it does not. the u.n. report on cause of, which falsely accuses israel of war crimes, for legitimately defending itself against real war criminals, and at that seeks to provide those of the right of self-defense. -- in effect seeks to provide -- deny us the right of self- defense. this report must be firmly rejected. [applause] we are proud of the israeli

defense force. we're proud of our sons and daughters who are defending the country each day. [applause] we know that our army, israel's army, he is as moral as in the army on earth. now supporting the idf and rejecting a u.n. report, you are sending a message to terrorists everywhere it that they cannot get away with firing on civilians while hiding behind civilians. and you do something else. you support peace of all -- for only and is thrilled that can defend itself is in israel that can take further risks for peace. i thank president obama for resolutely opposing this twisted u.n. resolution. [applause]

i applaud the overwhelming vote last week in the american congress condemning this biased report. [applause] i know that there are many canadian friends here today. [cheering] i extend to you my thanks to the canadian government and prime minister stephen harper for their strong defense of israel's right for self-defense. [applause] last week i watched a joint exercise of the idf and some 4000 american soldiers. the exercise was aimed to improve israel's air defenses against incoming missiles. i salute these american

soldiers and i thank the president, their commander-in- chief, president obama, for his continued support of israel's security. [applause] on behalf of the people of israel, i send our condolences to the families of american service women and servicemen who were killed in fort hood last week. my friends, my government is working to advance peace. we're not just talking peace. we are doing things. things that have not been done for decades. we have removed hundreds of security points, roadblocks, checkpoints in the west bank. i personally extended the hours of operation on one bridge. and we have removed bureaucratic

hurdles the palestinian economic development. you may not believe that but there are still bureaucratic hurdles in israel. [laughter] it is a passion of mine to remove them. and i am an equal opportunity bureaucratic hurdle remover for palestinians and israelis alike. these measures were taken alongside the measures taken by the palestinian authority to improve security. it has spurred an unmatched boom in the west bank making life better for ordinary palestinians. for the first time in years, businesses, banks, industry is sprouting -- restaurants, theaters, shopping malls, they are overflowing. thousands and thousands of palestinian jobs are being created. i think that we can do a lot

more and i intend to do a lot more to improve conditions on the ground. [applause] i believe prosperity can help achieve peace. but only so far. to truly resolve these outstanding issues between us, we must begin and complete these negotiations. we should not wait -- raise precondition to holding talks. such preconditions were never said in the 60 years of the dialogue. from the day my government was sworn in, seven months ago, i have been calling for peace negotiations to start. i said i would go anywhere, anytime, to advance peace. in no israeli government has been so willing to restrain

settlement activities as part of an effort to relaunch peace talks. so i say today to mahmoud abbas, the leader of the palestinian authority, lessees the moment to reach an historic agreement. let us begin talks immediately. [applause] i know that there are many skeptics. i am not one of them. i will tell you why. throughout my adult life, i did not share the skeptics' view. i believe that we could fight terror effectively and rescue the palestinian economy. i believe that we could alert the world to the danger of a nuclear iran.

and sometimes i stood alone. i think i was always the realist and in many ways always an optimist. well i am a realist and an optimist today, because i believe that peace is possible. i believe that because i know how committed the people of israel are to peace, and how committed i am to the achievement of peace. but we need a partner. we need a committed partner. we need a palestinian partner that is as determined to shoulder the risks and burdens of making peace has we are. and i believe that with good will and with courageous leadership on both sides, and no less important, with the continued support of the united

states, peace can become a reality. we can surprise a skeptical world. achieving peace is a great challenge facing israel. at the united nations in september, i spoke of another great challenge -- preventing iran from developing nuclear weapons capability. the iranian regime tyrannizes its people, sponsors and supplies terrorists, and openly pledges to wipe israel off the map. now just imagine how much more dangerous this regime would be if it had atomic bombs. the responsible members of the international community must unite to prevent this grave threat to the peace of the entire world.

i support president obama is continued efforts toward the stands, and i appreciate the firm position taken by a leading european governments. we must not succumb to the iranian regime's cunning and deceit. we must ban together to stop tehran from realizing its nuclear ambitions. in addition to achieving peace, and to preventing a nuclear iran, there is a third momentous challenge before us. reducing the world's dependence on oil. this would help cleanse our world after more of a central -- as century of industrial pollution. it would help our economies by decreasing our dependence on a depleting resource. we have growing demand, depleting supply -- this will cripple many economies,

especially in asia and africa. it would send poverty through the roof. there is economic social as well as an environmental audit. to find alternatives to oil. and such a shift would in the massive transfer of wealth to some of the world's most odious exploiters of terrorism and fanaticism. here is the question. can we dramatically reduce our dependence on oil? remember that sometimes wonder to inventions -- one or two convictions can change centuries of habits. for centuries, salt was highly valued for preserving food. it was literally worth its weight in gold. the salt trade help build

economic empires and the world's dependence on salt showed no signs of slackening. but then came two inventions, canning and refrigeration. and virtually overnight salt lost its immense value. the same thing may happen to oil. scientific and technological breakthrough could dramatically reduce the world's dependence on petroleum. israel could play an important role in making that happen. you know by -- you know about our high-tech countries -- companies, are venture capitalist firms, our scientists are nobel laureates. in solar energy and desalination and in so many other fields, is really innovation is transforming the way that we live.

some call this the start up nation. we are the start of nation. [applause] now we must use our minds to help achieve breakthroughs in the fields of cleaner energy. i will give you one example. israel could apply its unique expertise to the juncture of water and energy toward the global need for water is rapidly increasing. yet a third of the cost of producing clean water is energy. sea water is abundant, an endless supply of it. it could be readily the salivated in many areas -- desalinated in many areas with solar power. israel has mastered both of these technologies, desalination

and solar energy. we can make a contribution to alleviating water shortages around the world. especially in the growing economies of asia and the parched expenses of the middle east. i'm in the process of establishing a national convention that will bring together israel's greatest scientists, businessmen, and engineers. we hope to work with other governments and experts around the world. our plan is to dramatically reduce our dependence on oil in the next decade, providing an example that can be emulated by other countries throughout the world. [applause] i don't know which technology will prevail, but i know this -- if we can cross the oceans, fly disguise, and reach the moon, we should be able to harness water, wind, and sun to

power our world. [applause] by friends, i know that these three enormous challenges, achieving peace, preventing iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and developing alternative energies -- i know that these triple tasks seemed daunting. but i want you to remember another mission, whose success seemed completely implausible. when theater herzl embarked on it over a century ago, the challenges of a jewish state were nothing less than overwhelming. most of the world's jews lived in europe and had no intention of moving to the barren land of their forefathers. you saw the clouds gathering on to the rising and fewer still

saw the need for action. but with a clear plan and an almost biblical, prophetic sense of urgency, herzl help the jewish people overcome what appeared to be there in a conditional -- their inate condition of powerlessness. his idea gathered so much force that within decades our people emerge from the worst massacre in history to establish an independent state in our ancestral homeland. and then our small people set out to dedicate itself to the great task of building of modern jewish state. in an understandable moment of frustration, before all of this

became a reality, herzl lamented, "the tragedy of the jewish people is that we do not believe in ourselves." but he did not lose faith. he said, "we are strong enough to form a state. we possess all human and material resources for this purpose. if we will it, it is no dream," he famously said. my friends, we have learned from history that if the jewish people are united and determined, if we harness our hopes and our dreams, the hardest tasks are within our reach.

we are a small but great people, a people generous enough to forge a lasting peace, a people brave enough to thwart the dangers that confront us, and that people creative and not to once again help steer humanity toward a better future for all. thank you very much. [applause] .

>> in a few moments, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall, including remarks by former secretary of state george shultz on the role of president reagan and the fall of communism and then author bruce bartlett on the economy and then the troop surge in iraq. on "washington journal" tomorrow

morning we'll look at the health care debate from john fr ven itze. william galston will take your questions. we'll look at the fort hood shootings with abc news correspondent brian ross and former undersecretary of the army joe reeder will talk about the mental condition of u.s. troops. a couple of live events to tell you about on c-span tomorrow. the senate environment committee holds a hearing on climate change and jobs. that's at 10:00 a.m. eastern. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, president obama and michelle obama will be at fort hood, texas for the

memorial for those killed in the recent mass shooting. >> book tv heads to the 26th annual miami book fair international. follow authors and join in with your calls, emails and tweets. >> world leaders gathered in germany monday to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. remarks including those by secretary of state hillary clinton are about 40 minutes. ♪

>> let me welcome to the festival of freedom. tonight's host, the prime minister of great britain, gordon brown and the secretary of state of the united states of america, hillary clinton, the

president of the republic ofçó france, nicolas sarkozy, the chancellor of the federal republic of germany, angela merkel. the president of germany. medvedev, the russian president. the vice chancellor to have federal republic of germany and heads of state of government from all over europe. welcome to berlin.

>> this is where the walls stood. today we commemorate the many people who died at the wall. every single victim has a special place in our hearts. when the wall came down on november 9, 1989, berlin cried tears of joy. people were dancing on top of the wall. since then a place of horror has become a place of freedom.

tonight, we are celebrating a major festival of freedom. together we will watch it is a dominos are toppled. a big word of thanks to the more than 15,000 predominantly young people from around the world who have imstraited these dominos. each stone expresses a yearning for peace. quite a special dom annoy has reached us from -- domino has reached us from south africa. he is certainly thinking of us tonight. let us join in greeting nelson mandela. >> today we have good reason to celebrate, for this, we would like to thank brave women and men who stood up to a dictatorship. many of to those who called for freedom in 1989 are among us

today. they risked their lives for democracy and a better world. we owe our freedom to them so once again, thank you. [applause] today we are also bowing to other european freedom movements. the uprising of -- on june 17, 1953, hungary in 1956 and the solidarity movement as their representative let me welcome the nobel peace prize laureate. november 9 is not just a day of joy but it is also one of the darkest days in our history. today, 71 years ago, synagogues were burning all over germany.

we must not and will not forget the crimes against humanity and the second world war and we will prevent history from repeating itself. [applause] to this day, we are still very grateful that the western allies immediately following the war reacted with so much trust and help. without the help of the united states, france and great britain, west berlin would not have been able to survive. we remember the unique accomplishment of the berlin air lift. today we say thank you to all the friends of berlin. along with us, you have realized the dream of freedom. we say thank you to a man without whom the peaceful transformation of central and eastern europe would not have been possible. welcome to berlin, mikhail

gorbachev. and at this juncture, i would also like to thank the american presidents, john f. kennedy, george bush senior and the american people for their support. without their help, a lot of what was possible would not have been possible so thank you to the united states of america. especially in berlin, we can experience that the fall of the wall drastically changed the lives of people. we also remember those who lost their job and who have lost a sense of belonging in a new system. they have our support and their accomplishments too deserve our respect. 20 years after the fall of the berlin wall, a lot has been accomplished but much remains to be done. those who grieve today, let me

tell you, remember november 9, 1989, we were hugging each other back then and we were the happeniest nation on earth. when we keep this in mind, it puts our problems into perspective. i think we can be proud of what people have accomplished in west and east germany together over the past 20 years. the peaflt revolution of 1989 shows what brave people can achieve. this should be our warning and mission. it is up to us to at least create holes in the wall separating the rich and the poor. through consistent climate protection efforts, we can preserve natural life support systems for all people and it is up to us to create a world without nuclear weapons. let us jointly set out to topple walls of stone around the world

and with the walls in the hands of people. this is the message coming from a free and reunified berlin. berlin says thank you. i would now like to hand over to the french president nicolas sarkozy. >> mr. president, angela merkel÷ governing mayor. november 9, 1989, people here in berlin -- and you have changed the face of the world. you made your dream of freedom

become a reality. november 9, 1989 was a day where the whole world watched berlin. the wall of shame came down on that day. everybody believed that this wall was invincible but you toppled this wall. and to this very day, kept countries like bulgaria, czechoslovakia, the volume tech countries, they have also set out on a path away from tyranny that if it was possible for them it was possible because brave men and women, they filled the european dream with life.

and the president of france. the germans twice in our history over the course of the 20th century, germany and france shared a terrible tragedy. europe stands for peace. if that is the case the peoples of france and germany are the leading nations and our two countries have got a tremendous responsibility for friendship, for brotherhood and for solidarity. france, i'm glad to be here tonight and that is because the fall of the berlin wall was a liberation. the fall of the berlin wall was a liberation but it is also a call to all of us to fight

against repression. to fight against the walls that still exist in our world and which still divide cities, regions and nations. m)5b2sf8,'8qoboirxé>u9 [applause]

>> madam chancellor, mr. president, governing mayor of berlin, ladies and gentlemen. i'm delighted to be here today and i'm glad that i get to participate in the celebrations of the free and undivided city. today we have got a new form of open cooperation. we have overcome the difficulty and are in the process of overcoming difficulties where reacting to the crisis and at the same time we forget that we do remember the important events 20 years ago, exactly 20 years ago, the wall was brought down. the wall, you know, that hat

been separating people who had been close to one another. the wall did not just separate from one side. today we have come to understand that the whole of europe had been separated by this wall. we should also not forget that the fall of the berlin wall did not come out of the blue. it had been prepared by reforms in the soviet union and in other countries. the role of the soviet union 20 years ago was quite a decisive one. it played a major role in bringing about the peaceful reunionification of germany and the events had a lot of implications through europe and they brought progress and unity to europe. they were a turning point in the

faith of the entire world and we should remember that the path to german reunionification was closely linked to the fates of many people and to the leadership of the soviet union. as a result, we had families who were reunified. people were able to meet once again. the iron curtain came down. borders >> crushed. today, we no longer have the soviet union. we no longer have the g.d.r. molves people lived back then, they worked 20 years ago, they raised their children and as we know in the 20 years since the fall of the berlin wall, we have experienced a time that was quite special for rugs russia

and germany. new partnerships were forged. we now dare to go beyond the past and have a reconciliation process. the accomplishments of modern europe have now come to us here in berlin, we hope that a period of confrontation now belongs to the past and that we now are living in a multipolar world. for most countries around the world it is of major significance to have come to this time a unifying agenda is important for all of us. the world lives up to major challenges to reach -- we are united in the fight against terrorism and the fight against crime.

i hope we can move across the barriers that once separated us. friends today, we want to set out to work on this agenda. we want to remember our children. we want to keep the future in mind for a unified europe. this is important also for the citizens of russia. i would now like to hand over to the british prime minister, gordon brown. [applause] >> president, chancellor, mayor,

let me say first of all to the people of berlin, the whole world is proud of you. you tore down the wall and you changed the world. you tore down the wall that for 1/3 of a century had imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent and half the world and because of your courage two berlins are qun. two germanys are one and now two europes are one. and no one can ever imprison a people who know what it is now to be free. this wall was torn down not by leaders, not by from up high, not by military might. this wall was torn down by the greatest force of all. the unbreakable spirit of the

men and women of berlin. [applause] you dared to dream in the darkness. you know that while force has power to dominate, it can never ultimately decide. you proved that there is nothing that cannot be achieved by people inspired by the power of common purpose. and let me thank you, the people of berlin, for sending a message to every continent, that no abuse, no crime, no injury need endure forever. let me thank you, the people of berlin, for demonstrating that injustice is not the final word on the human condition. let me thank you, the people of berlin, for showing that in a

troubled world that an africa in poverty, darfur in agony, zimbabwe in tears, bermaçó in chains, individuals need not suffer forever. let your achievement be achievement of the people of berlin and germany. inspire us. by the power of one united europe, working together, we can advance pros parity not just for some but for all. and i pledge today that britain will always be at the heart of europe. we will never give to extremism that will drive us apart. and let the celebration of that historic night 20 years ago and the celebration of this night,

written out across the world that what seems impossible and end to nuclear proliferation. an end to extreme poverty, an end to climate catastrophe can become possible and be unstoppable thanks to the power of people united in common endeavor. what has happened here in berlin tells the world that the tides of history may ebb and flow but that across the ages, history is moving towards our best hopes, not our worst fears. towards light and not darkness. towards the fulfillment of humanity, not its denial. so as we stand here, as three people gather today in the shadow of history, let us pledge that we will work together to write the next chapter of the

human story. let us write a chapter of liberty and of pros parity and of peace. [applause] let me now introduce the secretary of state from the united states of america, hillary clinton. [applause] >> good evening, berlin. [applause] it is indeed an honor and a great personal privilege to be here on behalf of president obama and the united statesor america.

-- of america. to commemorate with you that night 20 years ago when history broke through concrete and barbed wire and signaled a new dawn, not just for the people of berlin, not just for the people of germany, but for the entire world. and that night, that night was built by the efforts, the prayors and the work of so many. we remember the allies who conducted the largest humanitarian air lift in history completing more than a quarter million right ins -- flights to sustain the people of west berlin. we remember the polls who waged a campaign for liberty that began with a strike in the shipyards of gdansk and we

remember a polish pope who spoke out for thes a -- aspiration s of people across the world. we remember the people of the balticses who joined hands across their land and helped to break the chains that held their nations captive. we remember the students of prague who propelled a dissident play write from a jail droll the presidency of a free remember and tonight we remember the germans on both sides of the wall but particularly the germans in the east who today up and finally were able to say no more, freedom is our birthright and we will take it by our own hands. [applause]

we know that millions of harts, of mind -- of hearts, of minds ux of hands, were behind those who literally tore down wall but history did not end the night the wall came down. it began anew. we could not know what the people of berlin nor the people of germany and europe would do with this moment. but together we saw you transform landscape of this continent and change the course of world events. so berlin, came to stand at the center of a free, peaceful, prosperous, reunified germany in a free peaceful prosperous unified europe.

two decades later, we remember but it is also a call to action. there are still millions across our world who are separated, maybe not by walls, maybe not by barbed wire although that still exists, but who are separated from loved ones who are kept down and behind, unable to fulfill their own destinies. so as beneficiaries of this great bequest we inherited in 1989, those of us gather here tonight, leaders and citizens alike, we must pledge ourselves to work together to advance freedom beyond its current frontiers so that people everywhere are afforded the opportunities to pursue their dreams and live up to their god-given potential.